Coping with Forever
by HecateA
Summary: Milestone after milestone, Jason and Reyna are slowly learning that they're lining up towards forever. Totally dedicated to an anonymous reviewer whose review made me tear up. I tried to answer every question he or she asked in the review. Oneshot.


**Okay guys, here's the scoop. **

**I got the sweetest review of life yesterday and I teared up because it touched me that much and I was having a bad day. So I needed to reply to this review, and since it's anonymous I couldn't do it by PM. I also think that by the nature of the review; a story is in place. So here is is:**

_From: Guest -_

_:Beautiful. Stunning. There isn't a single flaw. However, in regards to the optional Jason and Reyna: Do it. If it's going to not work out in the books, please. Just one last time. And For this one go really deep. If out of ideas, just ask yourself the questions; After the books, what was it like? How do they really feel? How would Reyna react to a proposal? A wedding? How could she cope with a pregnancy? How would jason cope with this? How would they raise their children? Are they seperate from the other seven? When they die, are they lost without eachother? Do they die together? When everyone's back in Elysium, What goes on? If you still have the Jeyna bug in you... How will they cope with Forever?_

_All I'm gonna say is until Jason comes out and tells Reyna there is something with piper and they have no chance, I will be Jeyna for ever. What I'll say is this; Expect the Unexpected, because you never know with Riordan, because we Can't Give Up On Them, and we can all be Daredevils for not just accepting some dribble of a story. On october first, take one flower and be Plucking Petals, because for every petal, Jason'll get one step closer to being Reyna's guy. We have to Keep Up with the storm, and live life. Hope for the best, expect the worst. But if Jeyna wins, I expected that. One last story. For them. For everyone. For riordan fandom_

**Thank you very much. I just want you to know; it's not a bug. It's here to stay. No cure. It's like Herpes, you just can't get rid of it- except this is pleasant. And not contagious. If it were I'd go cough on Rick. ****Anyways, thank you very much, your questions structured my story. It's dedicated to you, and I hope you leave a comment. **

**I hope everyone enjoys it!**

**Disclaimer: Me no owns**

* * *

**Coping with Forever**

Reyna leaned against Jason's chest. His shirt was so soft… Maybe Reyna spent so much time in armour that she always thought this about anybody's clothes, but she swore that Jason did something to his detergent.

This was her favourite part of the day. Nobody was watching. Nobody was expecting anything from them. Nobody was criticising. Nobody was throwing rocks.

And when Nobody was there, it was just Them. It was priceless.

Well, nearly.

Lately Reyna felt that even when they were both wearing sweats and her t-shirt was baggy and her hair was put up messily and he was barefoot, there was always someone else there. Those private moments didn't always feel completely private anymore (nor, should she mention, were they moments anymore because they had all the time in the world without apocalyptic wars and senate battles).

"Jason?" She asked.

"Mm-hmm?" He was watching the sunset, which she'd been neglecting. That was their excuse for cuddling on the villa's roof in the first place. She'd forgotten that for a second.

"You know I love you, right?" Reyna said.

"I love you too." He said.

"That's not what I was getting to," Reyna said. _But good to know. _The day he'd first said it, a week ago, was still fresh in her mind too. "I just… You know how I'm… Like, you know how inside… And feelings aren't really, well, mine…"

"Yeah," he said, getting the general idea.

Reyna took a deep breath. "I need to know… I need to know that you're really into this. That you're really ready to commit. Because if you can't, then I can't really like… this. I mean, I do like it. I like just being around you and being natural. You taught me to be weak sometimes, so it only seems fair. But…"

Jason kissed her ear. "Considering you had to ask that, I'm going to have to work a little harder. But yes. I will always, always be into this. I will always be into us."

* * *

"I really think we should," Jason said.

Reyna kept her chin in her hand.

"You're not convinced."

She shook her head.

Jason shifted. "I'm old enough to go to college, Rey. I want to do something in law. I think it'd be cool."

"It would," she said.

"You don't _have _to retire at the same time I do," Jason said. "I just… I don't know what kind of replacements will be available when we're forced to retire and I really think that Julian would be a good praetor."

"Fourth cohort?" She checked. There was Julian Bradshaw, Smith and Ndaymirijé (which was the one Jason was speaking of). Jason nodded.

"I know. And you know that I have a contender too…" Reyna said. "Emmeline."

"From Three?" He checked. There were three Emmas, one Lyn and one Line.

Reyna nodded.

"I know," he said.

Neither of them said anything for a while.

Making life decisions wasn't as easy as making choices to save the world was, apparently. They were good at that, but they were rubbish right then.

"In two years, I don't know who's going to be in New Rome, and who the legion might choose. Right now? I'm pretty sure Julian and Emmeline would be their picks." Jason said. "After the winning streak the Third Cohort's had at war games and the Fourth Cohort's success at reeling in the unicorns the other day… I trust them with the fort and with New Rome. Emmeline is energetic, Julian makes people trust him, she's smart, he's a historian. They're a good pair."

Reyna nodded. He was right, of course. And it made sense.

"Being a praetor's all I know how to do," she said after a while.

"But it's not all you _can _do." Jason said. "If you don't want to retire, I mean, we don't _have _to."

Reyna looked at him. She knew how long it took to become a lawyer, without much of the facts and the classification; seven years was what it took. They were already nineteen, going on twenty in a few months. Besides, maybe it was time for her to move on too. Being the oldest in the fort wasn't very appealing to her. Retiring and then being completely lost was a common fate of praetors that was equally unappealing to her. Besides. Law school wasn't going to attend itself.

"I'll sleep on it," Reyna said.

* * *

She and Jason spent the day trying to navigate New York and _not _look like lost tourists. Screw what Percy said about traveling around New York being simple; they were totally lost.

"I think we should take a cab to their appartment," Reyna said.

"Nuh-uh." He said.

"Look, I know you and cabs don't usually go over well..."

"We have a map and Rome-trained legs. We are fine."

"Jason we're lost as heck. They will think we have gotten eaten." Reyna said.

"We led attacks on Titans. We can handle New York."

"Obbiously not," Reyna mused. "I swear, the driver won't be a monster."

"That's what you think," Jason said. "That's sure as heck what I thought. But what was it?"

"A monster, yes, I know." Reyna cut him. They kept walking and Jason stopped at a stand. For a hopeful second Reyna thought that he'd ask for directions, but he just picked a pair of sunglasses off a case and slipped them over her eyes.

"Jace," she complained. He spun her towards the mirror. They were huge with pee-yellow rims and rhinestones around the lenses.

"Isn't that lovely?" He said.

"No it's not," she said.

"I think it's lovely."

"You have horrible taste," Reyna said.

"Not in girlfriends."

"Mmmm," Reyna said. She snatched a pair she'd been eyeing, pulled them off and stuck them over his face. Bright pink rims with a little dangling moustache that floated just under the nose.

Jason pursed his lips and his eyebrows shot up and Reyna laughed. She looked up at him, wearing those stupid glasses with his goofy face... She was pretty sure that this was the way she wanted to live, grow old and die.

* * *

Reyna closed the door with a kick.

"I'm home!" She yelled into the house. Nothing. Annabeth must be out. Or maybe her classes at the university were late today… she didn't know. Count on Annabeth to get a master's degree in mythology to fill up more wall space with diplomas even if her husband was living on the other side of the country. And Piper was meant to be out of town; she was helping Leo get some money from a guy whose car he'd fixed and crashing in San Diego for the weekend.

Her mental review of the house's inhabitants was done and she was exhausted, realising that not only a) her day had sucked, b) she was most likely going to get some time added to her probationary status since the officer she was shadowed was so goddamned uptight, c) it was going to rain all night and they _still _hadn't gotten the roof completely fixed (reason number two for Piper to be in San Diego with Valdez), but d) she was going to end up cooking since she was the first home.

She took off her hat and hung it on the hat stand near the door, wiped her brow. God, today had been bad, and hot, and the air around New Rome was sticky… She undid the top button of her shirt and wondered whose idea the uniform had been since it had long sleeves and they were in _California. _She should have changed that while she was praetor.

Then she noticed the paper on the floor. An arrow pointing straight, drawn in black Crayola washable markers, and then another one with little stickmen doodles. One had longer drawn-on hair, from what it looked like. The other one was a simple stickman saying "Hi I'm Jason" and the long-haired one replied "Don't care."

Another arrow forwards.

The stickman with the long hair was standing on the other one's chest, holding a sword. He was replying "Don't kill me!"

She took a step towards another arrow. Another drawing. There was a tree in the corner and cotton ball clouds in the sky, floating around a happy face sun. The stickmen were talking.

Stickman: I need your help with this Trojan monster.

Stickwoman: No.

Stickman: But Rome could be in danger and I know that you know a lot about it because of the pirates and [etc, etc, etc].

Stickwoman: Fine.

Another arrow made her turn right. The drawing inside the kitchen had a dead snake with two X instead of eyes. The two stick people were standing on him with swords and shields.

Stickman: We're not a bad team.

Stickwoman: Yeah. I guess you're alright.

Another arrow into the kitchen. The arrows made a full circle and the next drawing was at the door leading into the family dining room. There was a mountain with coloured-in clouds and cartoon lighting. The two stickmen were looking at it, surrounded by armies of other stickmen.

Stickwoman said: Let's do this.

Next arrow led through the dining room and the next arrow was the two glorified stick people… crowd surfing?- No, wait, they were being raised on shields as praetors (she had to draw back on her experience and do some guessing to get to that conclusion).

Stickwoman: Guess we really _are _a team now.

Stickman: Yeah, officially. There was a heart drawn over his stick-chest, and a slight upgrade since it was drawn in _red _Crayola marker. That made her smile.

On she went and she found Stickman throwing a paper plane.

Stickwoman said: You're such an idiot. Get to work.

Stickman: You know you love it.

Stickwoman: Maybe. But that doesn't mean I want to do all this paperwork.

Arrow. Picture. Two stick-people sitting on poorly drawn chairs around a poorly drawn coffee table sipping out of poorly drawn mugs with steam popping up.

Stickwoman was saying: This is strangely nice.

Stickman's heart was back, and connected to a thing of TNT, as if it'd explode. Reyna laughed.

Arrow. Arrow. A caption in marker: [I don't remember anything about when we kissed because my brain melted. Also I don't think I can draw that]

Arrow. Picture.

Stickwoman was alone and she was saying: Marco… Marco..? Jason, you're supposed to say Polo…. Jason? Her heart cringed a bit, but she had to smile. Marco? Really? That's what he thought she'd done? Oh boy.

Arrow. Flying boat.

Arrow, arrow. Stickman and other girl that was not Stickwoman. There was a red caption: Biggest mistake I ever made. Got forgiven, thank the gods.

Her heart melted.

Arrow, arrow. Giant nearly stomping on Stickwoman, but Stickman was shooting lightning at it. A new picture immediately followed.

The giant was dead (well, at least the foot was not crushing Stickwoman but sticking up on the side of the paper). Stickwoman and Stickman were kissing. The caption in red was like: Best getting it right I did. There was another black writing in the corner that read "Drawn by Hazel because she was around to see Frank and burst into his living room as he did this. Hi Reyna."

Arrow, arrow picture. Stickman and Stickwoman were standing in an ambiguous location with no horizon and Stickman was saying "I love you."

Reyna was now going up the stairs.

Arrow. Picture. Two people sitting on the roof of a square-with-a-triangle-and-a-chimney-type house.

Stickman said: I will always, always be into this. I will always be into us.

More pictures. Two stickmen were sitting in a room with a long table at the side.

Stickman said: We should retire.

Stickwoman said: I'll think about it.

Stickman and Stickwoman were both graduating, though the two scenes were separated. Stickwoman was then in a hospital bed with her leg in a rectangular and disproportionately big cast. Stickwoman and Stickmen were having a water gun fight. And watching fireworks.

She was at the top of the stairs and the arrows were leading her to her room.

The door had a poster on it. "OPEN ME"

Reyna did and there was a picture of a ring in a blue box. She looked up (remembering that her neck could do that) and saw Jason standing there with a blue box.

Her stomach dropped.

* * *

"So, of course, your marriage will be handled by the senate," the woman at city hall told them.

"Excuse me?" Jason asked. The woman looked up, her eyes glaring over her half-moon glasses.

"I'm surprised that a police officer and a lawyer don't know this," she said. Her face had no expression. This civil servant had no soul.

"Marital law isn't my department," Reyna said. She just knew that New Rome kept a list of married couples and fiancés in case something happened to one (as tragic demigod fates tended to)- that's why they were here in the first place.

"You are both of proconsular status," she said.

"Right," Jason said. That wasn't news.

"The senate arranges these weddings to make sure they have a certain… class and order to them. Certain Roman wedding traditions will be followed, and of course certain details will be at your discretion, such as bridal party and part of the bride's gown."

Reyna and Jason shot each other a look. Reyna could live with that. Jason looked fine with the arrangement of not having to plan a wedding after being witness to the "ordeal" his cousin had gone through.

"One condition," Reyna said.

"Miss Bell, there are no conditi-"

"This time there will be," Reyna cut. "Greek demigods are allowed to attend," she said.

The woman looked baffled with that suggestion.

"Well- that- that's not customary…"

"My best friend's a reporter," Jason volunteered. "How good do you think 'Years after Peace New Rome Still Discriminates Greeks' will look on the front page?"

"Or something catchier, like; 'Racism at its finest'." She added.

The woman scribbled something down.

"We'll contact you with further details," she muttered.

* * *

Annabeth spread out the train of Reyna's dress. She could've done without the train, but she'd argued out of flowers and glitter and lace. She could settle on beading and a train. Hazel spread the fiery orange veil (Ancient Roman tradition; one did not ask questions) over Reyna's shoulders.

"All good?" Piper asked. "Are you ready?"

Reyna nodded. She felt sick. But yes, she supposed that she was ready.

"You look beautiful," Hazel said with the kind of sweet smile that made you think that the world was okay.

"Nervous is good," Annabeth said. "Trust me. Nervous means you won't trip or mess up his name during vows."

"Don't give my subconscious ideas," Reyna said swatting her away.

Piper put a hand on her shoulder. "You're going to be fine. Trust me."

Daughter of love instincts won out against her own, so Reyna just nodded. She knew that this was what she wanted and she knew that this was right. It must be like battle jitters.

_Wonderful comparison, _she thought to herself.

That's when the music started and Annabeth, Piper and Hazel scrambled into a straight line like they were supposed to be in the first place.

* * *

"Tourists look goofy," Jason said as Reyna examined one of the statues in the Coliseum.

"I hate to break it to you Jason, but _we _are tourists right now," she said. "I know your geography sucks, but this is Italy."

"I know, but it doesn't feel like we're tourists. We're not wearing bright white shoes and we don't have backpacks on our chests and Italy souvenirs and cameras strapped around our wrists." Jason said. "It feels like it's just you and me," he said taking her hand. Her fingers touched his wedding ring.

"It is just you and me," she said. "That's the point of a honeymoon. C'mon, the tourist cloud is getting thick. It ain't just you and me anymore."

"Let's get out of here," Jason said.

* * *

Jason kissed her on the forehead. "Are you sure that you don't want to go to the doctor's, Rey? You look pale."

"Yeah, I'm sure." She said. She swung her legs off the couch and sat up. "Actually, I kind of need to talk to you about something…"

Jason sat down next to her. "O… kay?"

She took a deep breath. How did people say this usually?

"I'm not really sick," she said.

"Rey, you've been throwing up for the past week. I know that you've got this complexion that you're not allowed to be sick but…"

"It's morning sickness," she blurted.

Jason whole body dropped- shoulders, face, jaw...

"Like… you're pregnant kind-of morning sickness?" He asked.

"No, Jason. The kind of morning sickness you get when you're mutating into a zebra."

* * *

"Percy; shut up." Reyna said. "When you get your own child, you name your own. Perseus Jr. is not an acceptable name."

"Yeah, I guess it'd be stupid if it ended up being a girl." He said.

"Percy, don't." Jason said. Reyna had a feeling it was more of a _don't mess with the hormones _than a _don't come to help if you're not going to be helpful, _but she let it go.

"I like Aidan off this list," Annabeth (who was actually being helpful) said. Baby –Aidan or otherwise- kicked her and Reyna ignored. She was used to it. It was exciting the first few hundred times, but she was growing increasingly more concerned that when she'd give birth there'd be a soccer ball. "It's really cute. Aidan Anthony Grace sounds really good."

"That's my favourite," Reyna nodded.

"Backwards initials are like _gaaah," _Percy said.

"Oh my gods, that's true." Jason said.

"This is why I brought him," Annabeth said. "He's like a focus group of twelve year olds. If there's any name that has a very obvious mean nickname to it, he'll find it."

* * *

Holly smokes. She hadn't sworn more in her whole life.

Hopefully it was all worth it.

"He's okay, Rey," Jason said, squeezing her hand. "He's doing great." He kissed her on the forehead. "You're doing great."

"Jason, he's already out. It's a little late for you to be saying that- oh my gods…" She said watching the nurse come closer, holding a bundle. Reyna outstretched her arms before she knew it, by the same instinct she drew a sword.

The nurse smiled and lowered him into her arms.

"He's a healthy little boy, 10 oz," the nurse said. "He's a premie, though."

Reyna blocked it out but hoped that Jason was listening; she was busy starring at this baby. From the corner of her eyes she saw Jason starring just as much.

"Hey," Reyna said her voice low. He was staring at her, unblinking. His eyes were baby blue and she wondered if they'd stay that way, like Jason's, or if he'd grow out of it. That thought occupied her mind for about three seconds before she went back into the rest. Panic. Worry. Wonder. The happiest she'd ever been. "Hey…"

Shyly she put her finger along his tiny little fist. He made a cooing sound that made her smile. She turned to Jason. He looked half shocked and half ecstatic. Much like herself and since that feeling was good, so she decided that it'd be okay.

"My gods," she told Jason. All he could do was nod. Then he smoothed back the baby's hair and he cooed again. Jason's face broke out into a grin and Reyna couldn't tell if his laugh was nervous or bewildered.

He kissed her on the cheek and she smiled.

"Do you have a name picked out?" The nurse said after a moment.

Reyna and Jason looked at each other.

"Sort-of…" Jason said.

"Loads of people do that," she said. "You just need to have one before leaving the hospital. I'll give you some time alone. I'll just be down the hall."

For a while there was no discussion of names but Jason got the first text from Percy and Annabeth, Gwen had about a hundred exclamation marks on her text, Piper was next (only a few seconds later), then Leo said that Piper had told him, and then Hazel and Frank knew…

So they had to think of a name.

"Evan," Reyna said out of nowhere.

"What?"

"Evan," she said. "First person I met when I got off Blackbeard's ship, after I got separated from Hylla. I just remembered it."

"Evan Grace," Jason said to himself. "Evan Anthony Grace… Yeah, that sounds good."

"Make sure you like it loads," Reyna said. "Because you _are not _getting another one to name."

* * *

Reyna did not carry purses. Reyna did not carry purses.

She had to convince herself that a diaper bag did not qualify as a purse because it sure felt stupid around her shoulder. The weight wasn't even on both, what was this?

She had Evan in a baby carrier, cooing and waving his arms like a miniature windmill, tucked under a blue blanket with an elephant. The diaper purse was over her other shoulder.

She made her way to the café rather quickly. Hazel and Annabeth hadn't gotten there yet, so she took a second to feed Evan. He was filled by a bottle and falling asleep against her by the time they showed- one swollen-bellied one coming from New York, walking awkwardly in a way that made Reyna compassionate and another from Vancouver.

Okay, she was glad she'd carried a purse if it meant seeing them.

* * *

"Can you say Uncle Leo?" She heard Leo try from the living room.

"Bagah..." Evan responded, lying on his playblanket.

"No, no, no. _Le-O." _He repeated. "Un-cle Le-o."

"Give it up, Valdez," Jason said.

"He's nearly there, though!" Leo said. "Un-cle Le-o."

"Mama," Evan gargled. Reyna stopped cutting veggies and wandered into the living room wide-eyed. Jason looked up at her.

"Did he just-?"

"Yeah. Yeah, he did." Jason said, smiling.

"Well he was close," Leo acknowledged.

* * *

"Why do I have to go?" Evan asked.

"Because school is important," Reyna said, pulling Evan's shirt over his arms. She wouldn't know. She'd never been.

"But I don't want school," he said. "I wanna legion. Like Mommy and Daddy."

His academic carreer was off to a great start.

"You can't go to the legion without going to school," Reyna said patiently. Patience was this surprising thing that came with gestating someone for nine months, apparently.

"So tomorrow I can legion?"

"No, not tomorrow," Reyna said. "In a few years, okay?"

"How many?" Evan asked.

"Twenty three," Reyna said kissing his cheek. "Twenty four if you keep asking, okay?"

"That's not fair."

"That's alright." Reyna said. "Come on. Let's get you some breakfast before we get you to school."

* * *

Reyna pushed the Tupperware container shut as he ran past her.

"Lunch, Evan." She said throwing it into a lunchbox and pulling the zipper shut.

He ran back to her. He took a lot after Jason, but with sharper features. Also his scar wasn't above his lip, but near his left ear- and he hadn't eaten a stapler (thankfully he'd always been a bit brighter than that), he'd run into the corner of a wall while playing chase with Alice J.

"Thanks Mom," he said preparing to take off again.

"Wait a second, you," she said. He froze and turned, looking bored.

"Okay, look alive," she said. He raised his head and focused his eyes to look like an intelligent being. "Do you have everything you need?"

"Yeah, Mom."

"Agenda?" He nodded. "Lunch?"

"You just gave it to me."

"What about history homework?"

"History homework?" Evan repeated. "How did you know I had-?"

Reyna raised the culprit giveaway assignment.

"Oh!" He grabbed it from her hand. "Thanks Mom, I'm kind-of scramble-brained right now. The legionnaires are coming to school today."

"So _that's _what you're so rushed about," he said.

Evan nodded furiously, his eyes bubbling with excitement. "Because since we're in sixth grade, we get to quit school and join the legion if we want, right?"

"Evan, that's not what joining the legion's about." Reyna said. "And if that's the only reason you want to join, then we aren't letting you. In life you can't trade one hard task for another hard task."

"Well… what is the legion about?" Evan asked.

Reyna thought for a second. "It's about bravery. It's about forcing yourself to be stronger, smarter and better for a duty that's crucial. It's about history being alive, coming together as a people in a little bubble of land where our powers are the strongest and our gods are the most powerful. Why do you think your father and I make you do your assignments properly and study your Latin right? It's also about hard work, maybe even harder than school. Armour's nothing like your schoolbooks, young man," she said poking his chin.

* * *

"Nice place," Annabeth said looking around.

"Thanks," Frank said. "I wanted to rebuild it like the original, but Hazel talked me out of it and I'm glad she did."

Reyna looked around the Zhang family estate. Not all of it was used now; the house was smaller which made the property look bigger, and the surrounding trees made the property look endless. Frank had inherited it once he'd turned eighteen, along with a small fortune that would pay for it forever, so he and Hazel had rebuilt an average sized house since they were a small family (at the time the twins weren't even born- then again, the twins hadn't been born for a long time) and moved back. They were surrounded by enormous trees.

"Where did all my minions go to?" Leo asked.

"If you're referring to the children, I think Emma and Mia wanted to show them their cabin," Hazel said.

"Why do you call them that?" Jason asked Leo.

"They don't even listen to you when you're in charge of them. None of them." Percy said.

"I'm working on it," Leo said.

"And does the government find your current plan acceptable?" Piper checked, holding Arian's bottle up for her. She'd inherited of an orphaned daughter of Aphrodite to look after a few months ago- a tiny baby, seven months old.

"The government don't know about none of my plans," Leo said making a face at her.

* * *

They were just walking towards the movie theater and talking. It was a regular night out for them; Evan in the fort, troubles in the backseat.

He was telling her about this outer space thing the government was coming up with when she just collapsed. He caught her.

"Reyna? Rey, Rey?"

People around them, because there were always people around, stopped and stared and someone yelled that they were running to get to the hospital. Jason lied Reyna down and leaned her against his knee.

"Reyna?" He touched her cheek and tried to wake her up but she was completely limp.

* * *

"Dad?" Evan said. Jason looked over his shoulder, away from the newspaper.

"Yeah?"

"You're doing that thing again."

Jason frowned, "What thing?"

"That thing where you look at the newspaper without reading it or seeing it," he said. Jason folded up the New Rome Imperial and pushed it away.

"Right, sorry." He said. He also checked the time. Okay, so he hadn't missed any major meals. Good.

"Can I get a drive to go see mom?" Evan asked. "I know we already went today, but…"

_But you can't be with your family and the legion that often so you want to go now. _

"Sure," Jason said getting up and reaching into his pocket for his car key. "Mmm- on second thought, the hospital's not very far. Let's walk."

* * *

Demigods stranded in San Francisco weren't exactly rare. Usually the legion or the New Rome Police would go and rescue them, but now that one of them was trialed for murder, Jason had to go get him out of prison first.

He got out of the Caldecott tunnel, drove to the city. He'd talked with his client one last time about the court and reassured him that he wasn't at wrong and that Jason was going to get him out.

He was about to turn off his cellphone when he got a call from… home?

He reached into his pocket and just got confused mumbling that made no sense.

"Evan?" He tried. The demigod looked at him, terrified by the cell phone. "Evan, calm down, talk to me."

He didn't hear Evan and then he got a very loud and official voice instead.

"Mr Jason Grace?" The voice sounded familiar to him… It was one of the hospital workers, he recognised.

"Yes?" He answered.

"Father of Evan Anthony and wife of Reyna Abigail Bell? Son of Jupiter, sister of Thalia?"

New Rome had a peculiar identification system.

"Yes," he said. He got nervous.

"You need to come back to the city right away. I'm very sorry but your wife just passed away."

Jason dropped the cellphone.

* * *

He didn't get to see Evan get married, although considering how tightly demigods made bonds he was pretty sure that the daughter of Venus, Anaya Hart, was going to be around for a while.

He didn't see the cure for cancer either, because it was still hiding from humanity, although he was sure it was out there.

He didn't get to see so many things.

He didn't get to even say goodbye to any of them.

It just kind-of happened that one day he was in San Francisco to meet with someone and the sphinx came from behind.

* * *

"Praetor of Rome," one of the judges said reading what looked like some kind of twisted resume. "That's always nice."

"For four years," another said. "Just below the time limit."

"Veteran of the Titan War and the War with Gaia," another said. "Leader of the Argo II and prophecy child, two very nice titles…"

"Founding Praetor of the New Rome Veteran's Aid center, a fantastic initiative… has saved _us _a lot of trouble."

"A successful lawyer," one of them said. "That might hurt."

"Father of Evan Grace," he said. Legacy of Bellona and Jupiter, Centurion of the Fourth cohort."

Jason smiled at that.

"Dead in battle," the last shade said. "_Aut vincere aut mori." _

"Conquer or die," Jason said.

"Well, 'conquer or' isn't an option anymore. Off you go, to Elysium." One of the judges said, pushing his copy of the resume away.

Jason was escorted out by two spirits. He paused on his way out, resisting the pull.

"Can I ask a question?" He asked.

"Yes, your wife is waiting for you in there, yes. She knows you're here." A judge said, flipping through an agenda.

Jason smiled. "Thank you," he said. "That's all I needed to know."

* * *

The shades pushed him past the city walls and that was it, he was there. He felt his skin smoothen itself up and upon reflection, he realised that he was sixteen again. The best, and worst in some ways, year of his life.

He passed simple huts, elegant Victorian manors, narrow townhouses, tipis and wigwams, villas, condo complexes, a skyscraper even… People in costumes from everywhere and anywhere were around, walking with either the poise and grace of a Lord or Lady, or with the jumpy step of a child.

Elysium was nicely done nowadays.

He made a mental list of who was here.

Dakota: he'd gotten hit by a bus. Piper: her career as a United Nations' spokesperson had made her too public for her own good. Leo: out of the blue, nobody had expected it. Percy: his scent had done him in. Gwen: had contracted a disease while working at New Rome's hospital and had been wiped out in days. They should all be here.

He wasn't looking for any of them. He was pretty lost and sure that he'd passed this black-water spitting fountain at least five times.

That's when he felt someone run into him from behind, arms threw themselves around his neck. He recognised a ring he'd been anguished to buy and his heart started beating like a drum. He turned around and saw Reyna, also sixteen, her hair long and black and silky and (unlike the last months of her life) _there, _her eyes sharp as always.

She kissed him and Jason was startled, not having kissed anyone in two years and all. But he kissed her back. It felt familiar in a matter of nanoseconds.

She pulled away. "What are you doing here?"

She kissed him again. "Why did you go and get yourself killed?"

She kissed him again. "Where's Evan?"

She kissed him again. "I can't help it, I missed you."

"I missed you too," he said burying his face in her hair.

They sat on the edge of the fountain and Reyna caught him up on everything she'd known to happen in the surface world since he'd died.

He'd been given a proper Roman funeral in New Rome, which was why he was in Elysium. His name had been added to the Monuments of the Seven- two twin statues installed half-way between New Rome and the Fort, and New Rome. Annabeth had taken care of the house and of Evan; he was spending a lot of time with Alice Jackson which was always good for him.

She also told him about the dead.

The concept still felt foreign in Jason's mind- which was weird considering he'd spent his whole life bracing for the day that it'd happen. But he just listened to Reyna and didn't pay it much attention- which he was sure he'd pay for in a few days' time.

Percy was living seashore and the best way to find him was to go there. She saw him nearly every day, and he reconnected with many of the Greeks who'd died in the Titan war. Leo was _everywhere, _so Reyna only saw it when the fates willed it. Piper was easy to find, often hanging out near the entrance to try and help out newcomers. Jason had missed her by seconds probably, because she'd been with Reyna a lot since his death, like they'd waited for him. They were all sixteen too- Piper had put some effort in figuring out why and had determined that it was because they were all here because they'd done great things when they were sixteen (nobody else in Elysium had ever had an age-change though, so it _was _odd).

Dakota had tried for reincarnation; he wanted to join Gwen in the Isles and wasn't around anymore. Octavian had found other people to hang out with, which was fine by Jason.

Reyna had this place nailed down; she knew exactly where to go and where to be and what was going on. It was like a village; everybody talked to everybody, you could strike up a conversation with a headless knight if you wanted too (though Reyna said they tended to be bitter). They all felt alive, but their bodies couldn't touch or hold anything that hadn't been made in Elysium (which was surprisingly a lot). They didn't have to eat (though many of them did because food was delicious) or sleep or wash or change either, and generally there was Tiki party, ice cream degustation, ball or dance-a-thon going on _somewhere. _You just had to figure out where that somewhere was and what you wanted to do. So pretty much a never ending party to make up for anything hard you'd had to do in your life; nice.

"Piper found someone that she loves at a party, actually."

"Really?"

"A Greek archer named Lee," Reyna said. "He died two years before she was in the picture, but they're really close."

"That's really ironic. What's that line again? _Till death do us apart?" _

Reyna punched him in the arm. "That's on her behalf."

They got up and walked around, holding hands. They passed a waffle parlour, a toy store, a candy shop, clothing stores, flower shops…

"So I guess that _I'll love you forever, _and 'I do' at 'Will you forever be a loyal husband/wife?' wasn't enough, hmm?" Jason said. "We really are together forever down here."

"Don't call it 'down here', people get sensitive." Reyna hissed at him, "It's not like we're kept in someone's basement." They walked for a bit longer.

"You know what, I think I got used to the idea."

"What idea? Being down- I mean, being here?" Jason asked.

"No," she said punching him in the arm again. His arm had become soft after two years. "Us. Always. I think I've gotten good at coping with forever at this point. It doesn't scare me now."

"No?" Jason asked.

She put her head on his shoulder as they walked. "Not at all."


End file.
